Business and labor

11:31 am

Mon March 25, 2013

Boeing 787 makes test flight to check battery

A Boeing 787 took off from Seattle Monday on a test flight to see if a redesigned battery system works properly while the plane is in the air.

The test flight is an important step in Boeing's plan to convince safety regulators to allow airlines to resume using the plane, which the company calls the Dreamliner.

Boeing filed a flight plan shortly before the plane took off from Paine Field near Seattle.

Boeing Co.'s new 787s have been grounded since January, when a lithium-ion battery on one plane caught fire after it landed in Boston and the battery on another began smoking during a flight in Japan, forcing an emergency landing.